


sun and moon

by sunsetmarks



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25938865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetmarks/pseuds/sunsetmarks
Summary: Jaehyun befriends a... ghost?
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung
Comments: 13
Kudos: 76
Collections: jaedo digest: vol. 2





	sun and moon

Jaehyun never bothered going to his balcony during evenings ever since he heard about the ghost walking around late at night. His friends moved out of the area since then. It would be quite odd if he would create excuses to move away, not when his family practically grew up on that street.

The rumors spread around the area, and Jaehyun was quite aware of it. Children playing would be back indoors before seven in the evening. One time, Jaehyun was walking home at night when the kids tugged on his shirt, asking him to walk quickly. The squeak from the swings was fast, it took everything in him not to look towards the direction of the sound. Almost avoiding the probable trauma he could get from that experience.

It’s been a while since he heard about it. Eventually, families moved out to consider their children, whom they didn’t want to grow up fearing supernatural entities. Jaehyun notices how the front yards changed as new families moved in. However, there was that one house at the corner near the community park that remained the same. It was either the same family since back then, or the new family was just as lazy as the last one.

Jaehyun sits on the bed and stares at his feet. It’s been a while since Johnny and Taeyong visited his place. He needed to go out to buy food then fix his room once he gets back. 

“You’re one brave soul,” Johnny chuckles, grabbing the bottle of soju and pouring it in each shot glass. 

“What do you mean?” Jaehyun asks, eyebrows knitted with confusion. 

Taeyong laughs as he wraps his arm around Jaehyun, “you don’t remember the ghost?”

“Why would I remember?”

“No one talks about it now?”

“No one.”

Skeptical with Jaehyun’s words, Johnny stood up and went to the balcony. He soon dragged Jaehyun by the arm. 

“The table here is gone?” Johnny asks.

“I no longer go out here,” Jaehyun brushes off the dirt that clung on his shirt when he was dragged on the floor.

“Is it because of?” Johnny points at the ghost-like entity walking by his house. That’s when it hit him. Jaehyun was scared, not because of it being a supernatural being but because of the myths. If the ghost saw him, he was terrified it would often appear as Jaehyun would seem to be a friend of his… well, that’s what they said.

“No. I stopped smoking and being here often triggered the need to do so,” Jaehyun didn’t lie. It was one of the reasons why… but it was more of the ghost. 

The night felt long, and soon enough, Johnny and Taeyong drove back home. Jaehyun plops on the bed after a long day. His mind going through the idea of investigating it. He laughs at the idea that he was known to be the scariest in his soccer team, yet he freaks out over a rumor.

It was the first night when Jaehyun planned on staring at a clock in hand as he watched over his balcony. It was eleven in the evening when the said ghost passed by his house. Jaehyun noticed something off—it was wearing something that looks like a black hoodie with a neon orange print. “I could be dreaming,” he tells himself.

He hurriedly grabbed his hoodie on the way out of his room and went down the stairs. “I’m going somewhere!”

“Jung Jaehyun!” his mother calls out to a Jaehyun, who had already gone out of the house and left the gate open.

Jaehyun’s heart beats a little faster the closer he is to the sound of the swing squeaking. Whispering a sort of mantra to himself that it isn’t a ghost and the community he lived around were mistaken. He was still unsure about it. He remembers his grandmother telling him how to see ghosts, and it was looking between your legs. Having second thoughts, Jaehyun decides to do this.

“What are you doing?” a soft voice says, startling Jaehyun, and he loses balance. A young man, somehow around his age, stood up from the swing and walked towards him. He offers a hand that Jaehyun gladly takes.

“Are you real?” Jaehyun blurts out. He shakes his head, “I mean, are you really human?”

The young man laughs, maybe way too much that his hand was on his stomach, eyes formed into crescents and almost tearing up. “If I were a ghost, your hand could have passed through mine.”

Jaehyun’s face flushed red with embarrassment, “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be. You aren’t the first one who said that.” The other chuckled, finding the situation amusing. “By the way, I’m Doyoung,” he smiles at Jaehyun with hopes of making him feel at ease after an awkward first meeting.

“Doyoung… I’m Jaehyun.”

They don’t talk on the way home, but Jaehyun stands near a tree just across Doyoung’s house watching him enter before heading back.

Jaehyun fixates his eyes on Doyoung as the latter walks towards him. “Did you wait long?” Doyoung asks.

“Not really, only five minutes.” Jaehyun lies to himself, at least for today… he’s been waiting for almost an hour. A little bit too excited to talk to Doyoung. As mysterious as the young man is, Jaehyun knew some questions had to wait.

He stood behind Doyoung when he’s already seated on the swing, “loosen up,” he says when he noticed Doyoung getting tensed up. He pushes the swing, and Doyoung lets himself go higher.

“It’s so beautiful at night, don’t you think?” Doyoung utters.

“Have you seen the way the lake mirrors every little detail of the sky during the day?”

“I couldn’t.” 

_Some questions had to wait_. Jaehyun reminds himself. Despite the unanswered question and constant wave of curiosity, he feels something unusual. His instincts wanting to hug the young man and rid of any burden he may be feeling.

Three nights passed, and the two often met at the playground first before walking around the village. As Doyoung becomes vulnerable to tell Jaehyun about the things he loves, the music he listens to, and books he has read. He so soon tells Jaehyun about his family. His older brother, which he would call “annoying” but has so many stories to tell that included him in the picture. Somehow, Doyoung happened to talk about his skin condition. 

Instead of Doyoung feeling upset about it, he simply laughs it off. Giving Jaehyun an almost death glare whenever he pouts. “It’s okay! I love evenings more, anyway. I think it’s cool that I get to go out only during the night.”

Jaehyun was more than sure that Doyoung longed to talk to someone who probably wasn’t his family.

Jaehyun gets out of university early. It was almost sunset, and he got something planned. As soon as he gets home, he rummages through his closet for a long-sleeved shirt. Before he heads out, he takes his mother’s big umbrella. 

The sky was slowly turning pink, and the sun tinted orange. He rings the doorbell to Doyoung’s house, and the young man immediately opens the door.

“What?”

“Wear this, and use this when you step out,” he hands the shirt and the umbrella. 

“I can’t, fool.”

“You’re safe with me. Let’s go see the sunset together.”

They walked with the big umbrella. Jaehyun brushed the thought of possible judgment from the people walking towards the lake and joined Doyoung, holding it for the both of them. People were staring with the thoughts of “it’s not even raining, what’s the use of the umbrella?” Jaehyun didn’t care; his focus was on Doyoung.

“Jaehyun,” Doyoung says shyly. 

“Yeah?”

“The sky,” Doyoung points out. It was magical, no doubt. The sky gradients from pink to blue and the sun at its last peak brightness for the day. “Take a photo of me,” Doyoung pushes the umbrella down.

“Doyoung, you can’t,” the other opens Jaehyun’s hand and gives his phone. Doyoung closes the umbrella and stands there. His smile was wide. Jaehyun takes a photo of Doyoung with the sunset visible, and the skies painted pink and blue. But he does not fail to see the red spots that soon littered the other’s pale skin.

“Why don’t you go far from home at night?” Jaehyun asks.

“I used to, but my family hasn’t been around to drive me around like before, and I can’t drive. Whenever my family and I go out, I only stay in the room until the sun is down. It’s quite pointless joining them. Add to the fact that I fear staying out for too long that the sun is already up.”

Jaehyun forgets boundaries at this point and hugs Doyoung. He couldn’t form any words. He didn’t know how to comfort without accidentally saying something wrong.

“Jaehyun,” he tries to pull away from the embrace, “it’s okay. I’m okay,” he assures Jaehyun.

They enjoyed each other’s company until it was twilight. Jaehyun brought Doyoung to a nearby cliff to watch the city view with the other. 

“This has been the most fun I’ve had in forever,” Doyoung mumbled as he rests his head on Jaehyun’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

Jaehyun smiled, his dimple showing. 

“Any time, Doyoung. Any time.”


End file.
